<p>I agree with "poorly researched," and would add "has little to say." I've been reading on cc that many experts claim that while the number of applications is dramatically increasing, especially at the highly selective schools mentioned in in the article, the number of applicants is, if anything, declining--at least in this country. Therefore, applicants are sending out more applications, and the most selective schools are showing the most dramatic increases in number of apps.</p>
<p>It's nice to think that considerations of "fit" are increasingly important, but I think they've always been important, especially where fit includes financial considerations. If the point of the essay is, more kids are choosing "fit" over status it does nothing to advance that point. If it's "choose the school that feels right for you, and be happy about it" then I commend the sentiment.</p>
<p>OK then, if you want a real life example, there is a thread over in Admissions about a kid who turned down Princeton in favor of UC Santa Cruz. I remember visiting Santa Cruz about 35 yrs ago and I thought it would be a wonderful place to go to school! Hang out on the beach all day. My parents weren't quite as enthusiastic! :(</p>
<p>An African American kid, whose mother is a public school teacher at the school my wife is the nurse, turned down Harvard with aid to go to UT Austin where he paid somewhat more! Kid wanted to stay with his friends. He is doing very well at UT and is very happy with very high grades as a sophmore. I think Harvard will offer him for grad school if he is inclined.</p>
<p>Straight from the horses mouth to you all - my son is currently grabbling w/ his college choice & any advice would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Choices incl. Yale (a fortune), Dartmouth (also a fortune), UCLA, UCDavis & UC Berkeley (each w/ Regents) and UCSD (w/ Regents as well as Jacobs Engineering Scholarship = full ride).</p>
<p>You hear Yale vs UCSD and it's no contest, right? You realize ~$200,000.00 vs free, do you reconsider? We fall into that inbetween group financially, so you betcha! Unless ofcourse you have a college trust fund or a rich uncle! Plus, for engineering, UCSD is actually ranked 3x higher than Yale for graduate school.... </p>
<p>So just for the record, it's not that easy to decide! We are experiencing happy but quiet turmoil around here....</p>
<p>Son is leaving (w/ no time to even wash off makeup) straight from h.s. final performance on a Red Eye for YALE, then on to Dimensions.
All prayers gratefully accepted!</p>
<p>klc, I'm wondering if your family discussed that this comparison might arise? Did you have an agreement? My sister is going through this too, the UCs try very hard to keep the top kids. Her daughter is just devestated and wants Yale desperately. How will your family decide and will your son have to contribute if he chooses Yale?</p>
<p>We did play around w/ rankings (our own) & what ifs. But dreams can kind of sneak up on you!
Son is expected to contribute to his college education thru scholarships and work! He is also expected to earn his own spending money. While we were pleased & delighted about Regents, we weren't overwhelmed! The other scholarship, as son says, is kinda hard to turn down! Which UCs is your sister considering? Yale and anywhere else? Dartmouth? will she visit both? admit days?</p>
<p>The thing is, w/ Regents, you have the makings of a small college w/in a large university. Kids we know who are in the honors programs at the UC seem to be loving it. In the long run, we've told our kids that receiving a good education is up to them! What are you really learning as an undergrad that's worth over $5,000.00 per month?
Still, going to YALE is pretty impressive... </p>
<p>We'll just have to wait 'n see where son decides. His children may have live-in grandparents.</p>
<p>My sister is the mom, her daughter is considering UCB and LA. In addition to Yale, my niece was accepted at Columbia and Pann, but Yale's the school she wants. </p>
<p>They went into the process thinking it would be $100K (5 years at UC) versus $160K. But with all of the UC enticement, Cal is now looking like a very good deal and one that would allow them to save money and help her with grad school. She's not a spoiled kid, but this is harder for her than they anticipated. She has wanted to go back East to school for ever and of course Yale is a wonderful place. She has visited extensively as we have other relatives there. This is going to be tough...</p>
<p>Woo! Pretty bold of Ms. Gyi to choose not to attend a college that didn't accept her. That's about the worst example of Not Choosing Harvard that the reporter could have come up with. To begin with, CC itself is littered with examples of kids who, possibly as rejection disappointment defense mechanism, decide in advance that they wouldn't go to HYPS even if they got in. But once the fat envelope actually arrives all that thinking goes right out the window. Who is to say what Ms. Gyi would have done if she had actually had Harvard as one of her choices?</p>
<p>There are many real examples of kids who in fact do not choose HYPSM. Remember our own Evil_Robot from last year? He picked Vanderbilt over Yale. With a yield of ~80%, there are hundreds of kids who turn down Harvard every year. Write an article about one of them.</p>
<p>I may be totally wrong, but I would think that Yale + engineering is not impressive enough to pass up the great scholarships at UCSD. If it were Yale plus a humanities discipline, I would have a harder time, but might still come down on the side of taking the scholarship.</p>
<p>klc - we are in a similar situation (and also grateful), Berkeley with Regents vs. Stanford or Princeton. Still in the info gathering stage, and D will be going to Cal Day directly from the airport having returned from Princeton admit days (:0)
[quote]
The thing is, w/ Regents, you have the makings of a small college w/in a large university. Kids we know who are in the honors programs at the UC seem to be loving it. In the long run, we've told our kids that receiving a good education is up to them! What are you really learning as an undergrad that's worth over $5,000.00 per month?
[/quote]
We have not found any information yet from kids who have done the Regents, nor has the Regents program actually reached out to D - can you give me any info on what the kids you know liked and why? What they studied? What stories they may have told you? D is interested in bio, psych, humanities, spanish, dance, theater (yes she has worn me out over the years:)).
Thanks in advance...</p>
<p>Marite, the real issue, at least for my niece, is the college "experience." Most UCs are largely commuter schools, they have huge undergrad populations, are awash in red tape and are under serious budget crunches. Becoming friends with profs, as her cousins have in spades at Yale, is unlikely. Small seminars fairly unlikely for a long time. No doubt a fine education can be had but I'm not so sure most have a rich four years. Hard to put a price on a tight knit learning community.</p>
<p>I turned down Harvard (Radcliffe) for UCSC, and finished at UCB.
Son turned down Harvard for Columbia. I've heard of five other students in his first year class at Columbia who turned down Harvard, so there certainly are more.
The admissions info from Harvard last year stated that the students who rarely turn down Harvard are Asian Americans. It also addressed the increasing competition from honors colleges and programs.</p>
<p>Alumother -- Usually a student who is a current Regent scholar calls and answers any questions, as I recall from last year. She can certainly call there if she wants to be put in touch with a student. The UCB Regents, as you probably know, is not an honors program in the sense that students take any different courses. (UCLA does have an honors program, not restricted to Regents Scholars.) My impression is that it's more of an enrichment and social program, run largely by the students, that offers more faculty access, networking, and the chance to meet other top students right away. We would have loved for our kid to have accepted this. When he applied to schools he kept saying: I want to find a place like Berkeley. (There is no place like Berkeley:) ) Unfortunately, going to college five blocks from home pretty much eliminated it from his final consideration.</p>
<p>This is another of these articles or postings where Harvard stands both for itself and for other prestigious universities (aka HYPSM or "Ivies" plus MIT, Stanford and Caltech). Of course, there will be hundreds of people who will turn down Harvard for Columbia or Princeton, or MIT. I suspect not enough to do, hence the proportion of people who complain about their deficient Harvard experience.2</p>
<p>By using Harvard in the title while supposedly reporting on the "trend" away from yearning for Harvard, the writer undermines her own argument and does a real disservice to readers. That title just feeds the Harvard mystique and envy, capped as it is it with the disclosure that the applicant was not admitted into Harvard.
I personally consider Swarthmore as good as Harvard, though very different. Surely, the writer could have found an applicant who truly turned down Harvard for a LAC, unlike the young woman who was featured in the article, and without even the sweetener of financial aid?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Of course, there will be hundreds of people who will turn down Harvard for Columbia or Princeton, or MIT. I suspect not enough to do, hence the proportion of people who complain about their deficient Harvard experience.
[/quote]
lol, Marite. I only gave the Columbia example because someone said they didn't know anyone who had turned down Harvard except for HYSPMIT or a top LAC, unless the reason was money.</p>